


Written Across Time and Space

by BuffyAnn23



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s02e04 The Girl in the Fireplace, Gen, Girl in the Fireplace AU, doctor who - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:19:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4408046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuffyAnn23/pseuds/BuffyAnn23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during GITF. Being on that spaceship changed the future for the Doctor and Rose, causing them to be separated during the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Clockwork droids were never supposed to be there, and a young woman hopes that she can go back and fix the timeline before it's too late. This won't be a very long story, but it should read almost like an episode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 

The Torchwood hub was shaking and the readings on the monitor showed the energy from the rift was spiking at maximum levels.

"What the hell is going on?" screamed a young redheaded woman as she pushed herself up from the floor.

"I don't know. Something's happened to change the timeline. The rift is trying to stabilize and it's causing an earthquake!" The former Time Agent yelled back over the roar of the shuddering building.

The girl shook her head to clear it and looked back over her shoulder to find the space empty. "Where's..?"

"He's gone. I'm sorry." The man interjected before she could finish her sentence.

"Gone?” Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean he's gone? He can't be gone!"

"I'm sorry, but he is. He just…” The man stepped forward, grasping her shoulders to steady her. “He's gone. We couldn’t stop it."

The girl stared at him in disbelief and then suddenly jerked away from him, doubling over in pain from the pounding in her skull.

He went to reach for her. “Are you…?”

She held a hand out, abruptly cutting him off and looked up into his face; her eyes wide. "Whatever is happening we have to fix it now or I'm next."

He nodded, quickly slipping back over to the controls. "If I can just pinpoint where the shift started, maybe we have a chance of fixing what ever happened to create it."

Gwen Cooper came running up from the med-bay, grabbing onto the railing to keep from falling over. "Jack, she's getting worse. The Doctor and Owen are trying to stabilize her, but it doesn't look good."

"That's it!" said the ginger. "We have to stop this now! Do you have the coordinates?"

The Captain ran back to the monitor. "Tosh?"

"Inputting them now," said a young woman of Asian descent as her fingers moved frantically over the keyboard.

Jack tossed the ginger a vortex manipulator and she immediately attached it around her wrist.

"If you can't stop this Red," he looked at her pointedly while attempting to keep his own fear in check. "You're next, and I’m afraid she'll follow."

"I know." The girl choked out. "Wish me luck, yeah?" she pressed down on the activation button and in a flash of blue light, she was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

 

"Bloody hell!" The redhead grimaced and doubled over as soon as she reappeared in a large corridor. "How can he stand using this thing?" she questioned as she glanced down at her wrist. After getting her bearings, she activated the com link attached to her ear. "Jack, come in Jack."

"Right here darlin'. How was the trip?"

"Fantastic." She rolled her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Not sure yet. We're having a hard time keeping the system online and my main focus right now is keeping the com link between us up."

The girl reached into the pocket of her blue leather jacket to retrieve a hair tie and pulled her long red hair up into a ponytail. "How is she?"

"Not good, but she still has a bit of time on you." He told her.

"Yeah, well if I can't figure this out it won't matter." She looked up and down both ends of the corridor. "Guess we start by finding out where I am, yeah?"

The grating clinked softly under her feet as she walked along. Whatever this place was, it seemed to be deserted. The cold and silence akin to that of a tomb; save but for the faint hum of the overhead lights that gave off a green tint, casting an eerie glow over every surface and adding to her sense of foreboding. She approached a window and looked out into a blanket of stars. "Well, I'm definitely in space."

"Okay, that's a start. Are we talking spaceship or space station?"

"Not sure yet," she moved to the next window over. "Hang on. I can see some writing along the hull. SS Madame De Pompadour." She read.

"Madame De Pompadour? Like the French courtesan?"

"I guess. Makes you wonder what _type_ of ship this is."

"Sounds like my _type_." She could almost see his eyebrows wagging in light of his cheeky tone.

"I'll bet." she said in slight amusement. "Still, strange name for a ship."

"Hey, I once knew a guy at the agency who named his ' _Tame the Beast'_."

"Oh my god." She muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that was a popular phrase on that ship."

"Jack," she chided warningly as she rounded another corner. "I really don't think now's the time for...Oh my god!"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "That brings back memories."

"Jack!" she hissed.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked; his tone now becoming serious.

"There's someone…I'm, I'm not alone." her voice was barely above a whisper, but he could hear the fear in it.

"Who is it? Who's there with you? Are you ok?"

The overhead lights were flickering, casting intermittent shadows across the looming figure before her. White gloved hands reached out and a long blade extending from one wrist glinted faintly under a crimson stain. Head tilted to the side; its eyes, deep dark empty pits staring back at her and the menacing grin painted on its stoney white face made her skin crawl.

"Yeah," she took a deep breath. "I…I'm good. I'm ok. It's just, I found this creepy looking android. I think it's been deactivated though. It's not moving and it's wearing some sort a mask.

"What kind of mask?"

"Um," she swallowed audibly. "Like a court Jester looking type…thing."

"Sounds extra creepy."

"Shut up. You know how I hate anything that even remotely resembles a clown." she shuddered.

"Deep breaths love."

"Yeah, right, ok." She grimaced. "Well, it has long dark curly hair and it's dressed in old Victorian style clothes. There’s some sort of knife extending from its wrist and there's…I…Oh god. I think it’s blood."

"And you're sure it's not active?"

Cautiously reaching out and lightly tapping the droid's shoulder with her pointer finger, she let out the breath she was holding. "Yeah, it's…cold, actually. It seems to be frozen solid." Another flickering light caught her attention; this one coming from a porthole that sat slightly ajar on the wall behind the droid. Edging carefully around the creature that she was sure would give her nightmares for a good long while, she could make out a faint thumping sound. Slowly she pulled the porthole open. When she saw what was inside, her stomach churned and she covered her mouth in horror and looked away. "My god, there's a heart in the wall."

"What?"

"There's a heart, a human heart, in the wall. It's hooked up to a bunch of wires like it's…like it's powering something. What the hell is this place Jack?"

"Well, the readings show it's definitely a spaceship, 51st century to be exact. Somewhere in the Dagmar system. We were also getting some residual temporal readings though for the most part the connection seems to be gone now. Tosh is trying to pull up the schematics of the ship but it'll take a few minutes to stabilize the system and there's something else. The TARDIS now seems to have virtual memory recordings coinciding for both timelines in her database. Everything is being re-written and the minute you appeared on that spaceship, you became part of events. You're now a fixed point."

"So," she said slowly. "That means whatever happens, whatever I do from here on will basically establish the new timeline."

"It appears so yeah. I'm sorry. I know it's a lot of pressure."

"Ya think?" she snapped. After a short pause, she spoke again. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It's ok, I understand." When he spoke next his tone was sullen and filled with trepidation. "Listen, there's something you're gonna need to see. It's part of the virtual memories we got from the TARDIS for the alternate timeline. It will explain what's happening to you. I'm uploading it to your vortex manipulator now."

The girl lifted up her wrist and activated the projection. As she watched the events unfold, her expression went from anger to shock and then finally grief as tears began streaming down her face. "Was that the battle of Canary Wharf?" she whispered.

There was a brief moment of silence before he finally spoke with a shuddering "Yes."

"Jack, this can't…we can't let this happen. We have to find out what went wrong and fix it now."

"I know and we will. Now the TARDIS confirms they're on the ship so find them and I'll contact you as soon as I have any new information."

The redhead moved to turn off the projection and her hand passed right through her wrist. Holding her hand up she stared at it in shock and after a few seconds it became solid again. "Ok," she replied, flexing her fingers. "But please hurry 'cause we're running out of time."

"I'm on it honey. Just hold on." he said and the com link went silent.

Looking back into the empty dead eyes of the droid's mask she shuddered and took a step back. ' _What the hell happened here?_ '


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 

_"On a dark desert highway,_

_cool wind in my hair_   _Warm smell of colitas,_

_rising up through the air"_

 

 

She always sang whenever she was scared or nervous. A trait she attributed to her mother, who would always sing to her when she was little to help calm her after a nightmare.

 

 

 

" _Up ahead in the distance,_

 _I saw a shimmering light_  

_My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim,_

_I had to stop for the night_."

 

 

 

Out of most genres of music she had a passion for classic rock. The Eagles, being one of her favorites, was just one of the many bands she got to see live. It was July 29, 1975. The 'One of these Nights' concert tour had made a stop at the Mississippi River Festival in Edwardsville, Illinois. It was the first time they ever played Hotel California live and she was there to see it. Just another one of the many perks of time travel.

 

 

 

" _There she stood in the doorway;_

_I heard the mission bell"_

 

 

The song paired with the memory seemed to ease her tension a little although she couldn't help throwing a glance back over her shoulder every few steps or so to make sure that the nightmarish droid hadn't reactivated and started following her.

 

 

 

_"And I was thinking to myself,_

_'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'_ "

 

 

 

Okay, so she didn't have all the answers yet but so far this place was definitely leaning towards the latter. She stopped at a junction that lead in two separate directions. Rather than taking the one that was bordering on pitch black except for a few patches of starlight filtering through the windows, she turned left and followed the one illuminated by pulsing red emergency lights.

 

 

_"Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way..."_

 

 

The voices down the corridor had her trailing off into silence for a moment. "Welcome to the Hotel California." She murmured aloud. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for whatever she was about to face she continued on, allowing the voices to lead the way.

 

 

 

**~oOo~**

 

 

As she stepped into what looked like the main control room she noticed the TARDIS nestled against the back wall. _‘Well at least I know I'm in the right place.’_ She mused in relief. Walking up to her, she stroked the outer frame of the door lovingly. "Hello old girl." She smiled up at the big blue box fondly and was greeted with a welcoming hum in her mind.

"Who the hell are you?" came a voice from behind her.

Spinning around she saw a young dark skinned man with short cropped hair; arms folded across his chest and glaring at her. A slightly younger blonde woman stood just behind him; her eyes wide.

"Un...I mean, Mickey? Wow, you're…young." The redhead said in awe as she stared back at him.

"What are you on about?" Mickey replied in a frustrated tone.

"I'm sorry, it's just…you look so young." The girl chuckled softly. "I mean," she glanced at the blonde. "Rose looks the same. Weeell, almost the same. I forgot about the short hair phase." She paused, tilting her head slightly as she studied her and then quickly looked back at Mickey. "But you, you're just so..."

"Who are you?" Rose spoke up quietly, taking a few steps closer.

"Yeah, and how do ya know who we are?" Mickey added angrily.

The redhead looked between the two of them and smiled. "I'm a friend. Just passing through actually and…" she paused and looked around; her smile faltering. "Where's The Doctor?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and turned away.

Mickey snorted. "That idiot? He left! He left us to go chase after some French tart in the 18th century with no way of getting back, and now we're stuck here!" He spat. “My very first trip and he leaves us stranded on a bloody ship full of creepy clockwork men who dissect people and use their organs as replacement parts!"

Her gaze flickered to the bandage on his right arm and she immediately remembered the blood stain on the droid's blade as the severity of the situation began to set in. This was so much worse than she expected and to say that she was shocked would be an understatement. Of course there had to be some sort of mistake because The Doctor wouldn't do that. The Doctor is many things, a madman, a genius, an oncoming storm and most certainly a magnet for trouble. He constantly babbles on a mile a minute about anything and everything that pops into his brain and anyone who has ever spent time with him knows they had better wear comfortable shoes because you have to be able to run at a moment's notice. The man she knows is not someone to ever be trifled with but he always offers you a choice to right your wrongs and most of all, with his affinity for constant self-sacrifice he is always putting others above himself, which was why she was having a hard time in wrapping her mind around Mickey's words. That he had actually just left them stranded with no way home; especially Rose, the woman who had become his salvation. The woman who had healed the deep seeded pain and guilt that the war torn soldier harbored over the loss of his planet and people. The girl shook her head in disbelief. She needed to hear more but before she could open her mouth to ask for further details she noticed the subtle shaking movements coming from Rose, who was still facing away from her.

Mickey's eyes followed the girl's and he reached out for his best friend, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm jus' angry and exhausted. I mean we were almost cut up for spare parts back there while he was off dancin' with the French and makin' banana daiquiris and neither one of us knows how to fly the TARDIS…" he stopped short at the look of anguish on her face and realized he was only making it worse. "But I'm sure he's working on a way back right now." he added quickly. "'Cause, he's the Doctor and he always has a plan, right? So everything's gonna be ok." he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Mickey, why don't you give Rose and I a few minutes to talk, yeah?" The redhead spoke softly as she approached them. Mickey eyed her warily and she held her hands up to reassure him. "I promise, I'm a friend and I'm just here to help."

"S' ok Mick," Rose sniffed, patting one of his hands. "I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust her. Wait for me in the TARDIS, yeah?"

Mickey frowned but nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before turning to head back to the timeship. When he reached the door he tossed one last hesitant glance over his shoulder and then slipped inside.

The girl turned back to Rose who was attempting to gain some composure as she wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Tell me what happened." she said gently.

Rose took a shuddering breath and began to tell her the whole story about the time windows that led to 18th century France, meeting Reinette and how they found out that the clockwork droids were trying to harvest the Madame's brain to power their ship. As she spoke, she was surprised at how easily the words poured out of her to this strange girl, whose name she didn't even know. Yet something about the redhead seemed so familiar and she felt like she could open up to her without any repercussions.

"So ya' see he had to go. He had to save her to protect all of history and the timelines and stuff. But when he rode Arthur through the mirror, it severed the connection and now there's no way for him to get back." Rose sniffed.

"Blimey, that's…that's just...I mean, what was he thinking?" The redhead said angrily.

Rose shrugged. "He's The Doctor. He saves people. S'what he does. Besides," her voice grew quieter. "He's in love with her. I think maybe the main reason he wasn't worried about gettin' back was 'cause he finally found someone to walk the slow path for."

"What? Rose…no. There's no way." The girl was shaking her head.

"S' true though." Rose's voice began to waver. "They had a connection. She saw into his mind and he…he kissed her." she said as the tears began falling again.

"He did what?!" The ginger's temper flared.

Rose put her hands over her face and sank to the ground sobbing. "I jus'…I don't know what to do now that he's gone. I don't remember how to access the emergency protocols and this was Mickey's first trip so he's relyin' on me to figure things out but even if I could convince the TARDIS to take us home how could I jus'…" She sniffed and shook her head. "I could never leave him and even though we no longer matter, I know he'll come back for the TARDIS. He needs her. She's all that's left of his home."

"Rose, he needs you too." the girl said softly, trying to keep her own emotions in check.

The blonde shook her head vehemently. "No, he really doesn't, not anymore. And I should'a seen it comin'. M' not the first to travel with him and I won't be the last. I always thought he was jus' afraid of us gettin' together 'cause he's already lost so much, yeah? So I settled for bein' his best mate, never tryin' to push him for more than he was willin' to give and then after he changed it almost seemed as though we were growin' closer. Like maybe he realized he wanted more too but then during our last trip to Earth he did a complete one eighty. We ran into someone he used to travel with, a woman named Sarah Jane and I admit I was jealous. I shouldn't have been surprised though really, he's lived a long time, S' only natural he would have had others travelin' with him before me but it hurt that he never told me about any of them. Especially after everythin' I’ve shared with him about the people in my past. An' then I found out he had jus' left her behind one day. He left her behind and never went back. So I confronted him. I needed to know if he was gonna do the same to me and he looked me in the eyes and told me he wouldn’t. For a brief moment, I even thought he was actually gonna confess how he really felt about me but then he jus' shut down again. He told me that I could spend my life with him but he couldn't spend his life with me because M' human. That one day I'd be gone and he has to live on alone.”

Ah yes, she remembered hearing the stories about the famous “last of the Time Lords” speech. It was a deflection, his go to avoidance excuse he used to use following the war, whenever people got to close. The redhead rolled her eyes again and shook her head, returning her focus to the woman in front of her.

“And now, less than a day later I realize the truth is S' not that he doesn’t do those types of things, he jus’ didn't want to do them with me. I get that now. An’ I can see why he chose her. She's this amazin' woman who's smart and beautiful and cultured and so much more than I could ever be." Rose closed her eyes and released a shuddering breath before continuing. "I…I love him, so much…" Choking back a sob, she shook her head to try to maintain some semblance over her emotions. "But I know now that he doesn't…that he'll never feel the same about me and I’ve got to accept that ‘cause I still want to be with him. Even if it hurts and even if I can never have more than his friendship S’ worth it, 'cause I love him and I want to spend my life with him. Sarah Jane said, 'Some things were worth gettin' your heart broken for'.I jus' never thought he'd leave me without sayin' goodbye." She whimpered softly; bowing her head. "I thought I meant enough to at least of earned that."

The redhead gritted her teeth and ran her hand over the back of her neck as she paced a few steps. "Oh, that man is so bloody frustrating sometimes I just wanna…" Not only was she angry, but the heartbreak she was witnessing in front of her was almost too much to bear. This was not Rose. This was not the strong, vibrant and clever woman she knows. This Rose was defeated, almost broken. She was giving up and that just couldn’t happen. Walking back over to her, the girl knelt down and took the blonde's hands in her own. "Listen to me, I promise you everything’s gonna be okay. We're gonna get him back and we’re gonna fix this." ' _'Cause he and I are gonna have words.'_ She thought to herself.

Rose looked up at her and nodded as she studied her face. Something in her gut made her truly want to believe this girl. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but from the moment they met she felt a connection. She knew without a doubt that not only could she trust her but her presence also made her feel more at ease, like everything would really be okay. Although she had this distinct feeling that their roles had been reversed, that she should be the one providing comfort. She searched the girl’s eyes for a moment more, trying to discern her feelings. "Can I ask why this is so important to you?" she asked quietly.

"Let's just say the future depends on it. I can't say any more than that." She added as Rose arched a skeptical brow. "Spoilers." She winked and stood up, pulling Rose up with her. "Anyway, I think it would be best if you went back to the TARDIS for a while. Make yourself a nice cuppa and.."

"No." Rose interjected, shaking her head. "M' stayin' here. ‘S only been about five hours and M' not leavin' this spot til' we come up with a way to get him back."

"Wow, you really have always been just as stubborn as he is." the redhead muttered.

"What was that?" Rose arched a brow once more.

"Nothing, just please, I need you to trust me right now. I just need some time to take a look around and then I will come straight back to get you and form a plan. It's just not safe out here right now. I came across one of those…" she shuddered. "Droids before I found you guys.”

"Yeah, after The Doctor went through the mirror we decided to search the ship to see if there were any more time windows that might still be active when it attacked. If it hadn't been for Mickey I…" Rose shuddered. "It came after me, but he knocked me out of the way. Got a few cuts on his arm in the process, but he was able to freeze it with the fire extinguisher."

"Well you may have stopped that one for now and the ones on the other side of the time window may have been cutoff, but if there are any others still active on this ship they’ll be desperate and dangerous." Rose was poised to argue again so she put her hands on the blonde's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Please Rose, it’s important to me that you’re safe." Her gaze drifted slightly to the right as she noticed her hand flicker again and quickly dropped her arms back to her sides.

Rose sighed in frustration but as she looked into the girl's eyes she once again had that feeling of complete trust wash over her. "Fine, I'll go check on Mickey for a few minutes and give him an update but then 'M comin' right back.” She crossed her arms and gave the girl a pointed look. “Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," the ginger saluted, earning an eye roll from the blonde before she turned and headed back towards the TARDIS.

As soon as Rose had stepped inside and closed the door, the girl activated her com link. "Jack?"

"Hey Red, all clear?"

"Yeah, I sent Rose back to the TARDIS for a bit. She didn't want to go."

"Well, you know how stubborn she is and when she's got her mind set it's hard to convince her otherwise. How are you doing?"

"I'm Marty McFly'n at the school dance right now."

"How bad?"

"Just my hand so far.” She lifted up her right arm just as her hand became solid again. “It's kinda flickerin' on and off like a hologram and my memories are starting to get a little fuzzy." She shook her head and sighed. "Enough about that though, whadd'ya got for me?"

"Well it's been confirmed that this is where the shift in the timeline began. As far as we can tell, they were never supposed to be on that ship. "Those droids, whatever they are, whatever they want, they caused this. They're messing with very fabrics of time itself. Opening those windows was what drew the TARDIS there in the first place. She could feel the disruption."

"I think I can probably fill in the gaps from the information I got from Rose. Those things are repair droids. Apparently they didn't have the parts to fix the ship after it was damaged in the Ion storm so they used the crew." She paused as Jack groaned loudly. "Yeah,” she agreed with a shudder. “So the only part they still needed was a brain to repair the command circuit of the ship. Guess they figured since the ship was named after Madame de Pompadour, it was her brain they required. So based on that logic they opened a bunch of time portals to the 18th century to follow her life until they deemed her brain would be compatible."

"Which they figured would be?"

"Age thirty-seven."

"Why thirty-seven?"

"'Cause that's how old the ship is?"

"Seriously?"

"Yep." she said, popping the 'P'. "They're apparently also very literal."

"You know, this is starting to become a running joke for those two. I mean, what is it with them and psychotic robots? The Anne Droid, the Roboforms, oh and those creepy Hosts from a couple of Christmas ago during their anniversary party on the Titanic."

"Hey, in the Hosts' defense, I'd be homicidal too if I had to watch people reenact the movie while playing that Celine Dion song over and over again."

Jack chuckled softly. "Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor yet."

"Well, ya know, just trying to stay calm and all that." She wandered around the room picking up various objects and examining them before setting them down again.

"So, have you tried talking to the Doc yet? The one with you now, I mean? Maybe he can give some further insight to help us figure out whatever happened on that ship to change things."

"Um, that's not really an option right now."

"Why? Wait, did he give you that BS line about ‘time constantly being in flux and the timelines will work themselves out as they’re supposed to?"

"No. Actually he's the one who broke the connections to the time windows by jumping through a mirror on a horse to save the mistress of King Louie the 15th after snogging her and allowing her to wonder around his mind and now he's stuck there." She said irritably.

"He did what?!" Jack yelled before the connection went silent.

"Jack what's going on? Jack?" She placed a hand over the com link in her ear trying to make out the faint noises. There were muffled shouts underneath the steady rumbling of the quake and after a few moments his voice was back in her ear.

Slightly breathless, he replied. "I'm here Red, everything's fine…"

"No, everything is not fine! What the hell was that for?" The Doctor cried out angrily in the background.

"Why don't you dig through your second set of memories and then tell me you didn't deserve that!" Jack shot back.

"We are in the middle of a full-blown crisis and you want to start a fist fight?" shouted the Doctor.

The redhead sat down in the Captain's chair and rubbed her hands over her eyes. ' _They would have to do this now. Hundreds of years old, the pair of em' and they still act like children'._ She crossed her arms over her chest and propped her feet up on the console; chewing her bottom lip. "Jack, think you can stow the macho crap for a few minutes and talk to me about the time windows so we can figure out how to get him back?"

"Yeah, sorry. Well, while the readings show there were originally multiple time windows, they all seemed to have been closed when we ran the diagnostics and now we know why." He added in a bitter tone. "However, that faint energy signature that we picked up when you first came on board proves that there was one time window that wasn't severed when the connection was broke."

"Okay, so which one is it, and more importantly, how do I get through it." She said jumping to her feet.

"The schematics pinpoint the energy signature is coming from the fireplace. It was the original doorway, the first one that was ever activated."

"Great! _How do I get through_?" she punctuated each word.

There was a pause. "Ah, therein lies the problem. You don't."

"What do you mean I don't?"

"I mean, the only reason the link is still active is because the connection was offline when all the other windows were severed, allowing it to remain linked to the ship. So now because of the way the connection was originally severed and moved, it can only be activated from the other side."

"Okay, well then can I just use the TARDIS to go pick him up?"

"Won’t work. Since we don't know the exact date and time he went through, you could land either too early or to late which would just disrupt the timelines even further."

"That's bloody fantastic! I'm running out of time and we're what, playing the waiting game?" She sighed and plopped back down on the Captain's chair, lightly thumping her head against headrest.

"Look, I know you're frustrated, but I need you to stay positive, okay?"

"Yeah, fine." she mumbled. "Do we at least have any idea how long he was gone, or how he got back?"

"Well, we could always go to the source for that. Hang on a sec." After a few moments he spoke again. "The Doc remembers Rose saying something about five and a half hours when he came back through the fireplace. Although he also says he can't be definitively sure since the memories are pretty foggy right now as they’re still building and then of course he proceeded into his techno babble so I had to walk away." He paused again and then she heard him shout out. "Yeah, starting to remember why you deserved that now aren't ya?"

Great, she was getting a headache again. "Ok," she began, trying to recapture his attention. "When I spoke with Rose she said they had already been waiting for about five hours so let's hope he's right about the timeframe before mine runs out." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Where were they going anyway? In the original timeline I mean, where were they heading when they ended up here?"

"Well let's see, this seems to have happened just after Mickey called about the problems at the school. That was when they ran into Sarah Jane the first time and that whole mess with the Krillitanes. Afterwards, Mickey asked to join them for a bit; which Rose wasn't exactly happy about, so The Doc took them to Kataa Floko for a bit of R&R as sort of a peace offering. There were a few more random trips after that which led to some jail time and then they ended up in the parallel world."

"That was when Mickey left, right?"

"Yeah. After the whole Cybermen ordeal Mickey decided to stay behind to help continue taking down the Cyber factories. That whole trip really took a toll on Rose. She saw the parallel version of her mom get cybernized, her parallel dad couldn't handle finding out who she was and basically rejected her to her face and on top of that she lost Mickey. That trip was actually what brought her and The Doc closer. He finally got his head out of his ass and stopped pushing her away and then right after the incident with the Beast on Krop-Tor he took her to Barcelona where…" he chuckled again. "Well, we all know what happened there."

She could see his eyebrows wagging again in her mind’s eye and shook her head at the thought. "I’m still trying to process all this." she said after a moment. "I'm just so mad at him and I can’t believe he could be so stupid. I mean what was he thinking? I get that the timelines had to be preserved and there probably wasn’t much time for a big explanation, but he couldn’t make time to see that they were safe first? I mean, if he knew there was a possibility he might not be able to come back he could have sent them home instead of leaving them here to fend for themselves until who the hell knows when. It's bad enough knowing that he went traipsing off after the King’s mistress to some party while they almost got dissected for parts and then I find out he just up and left them! No plan, no goodbye, nothing." She paused for a moment, pressing a hand to her temple and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. “I just don’t understand any of this Jack. Especially this crap about him supposedly falling for another woman.”

"I know sugar. I don't get it either.” Jack empathized. “Especially after everything he and Rose went through over those first couple of years together. I mean, yeah granted this version of him could be a terrible flirt on occasion but chasing after a woman he barely knows; a historical figure for that matter and he knows better, this doesn't even sound like the Doc. It's just so completely out of character for him; like his life story is suddenly being written by two different people who didn’t bother to compare notes. Back when he was all beautiful blue eyes and leather, nothing could come between those two. There was like this unspoken rule when I started traveling with them. It was basically 'Hands off the Blonde and you and I are cool'. And from what I know those feelings only got stronger after he regenerated."

"Yeah, but we both know it took him a while to admit that." she pointed out. "Hell, the whole reason he invited Mickey along originally was to put distance between them so he didn't have to face his feelings because he was afraid of losing her at some point."

"True, but I can't believe that he would deliberately chase after another woman hurting Rose in the process just to put some distance between them."

"And yet we both know that's exactly what he's doing." she replied cooly.

She heard Jack blow out a breath before trying to lighten the mood. "So no chance he's infected with some sort of Alien Lust Virus then?"

The girl snorted softly. "If only. I don't know where we go from here Jack. I had a whole long list of possibilities in my head in preparation for what I might have to face when I got here in order to restore the timeline but this…" she choked back a sob. "I don't know how we fix this."

"Hey, hey, hey, everything's gonna be alright. We don't know anything for sure yet until you actually get a chance to talk to him."

"I just feel so useless sitting here waiting. Rose said time moved faster on that side of the window so who knows how long he's been over there with that woman by now or what they've been…"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Jack interjected. "Yeah okay, he may have kissed her but wanting distance or not, there is no way he would ever…"

"Doesn't matter whether he did or not." she cut in. "'Cause Rose believes he did. She believes he chose Reinette over her. She's convinced herself that he doesn't care about her, and maybe never did. And with the way he was always keeping everything inside during this particular point in time, he's not gonna give her a reason to think otherwise. Seeing Sarah Jane again scared him so he brought Mickey along as a buffer, which didn't work 'cause their relationship had already ended after that last encounter you guys had with Margaret. But this, this situation right here he's looking at it as though it was a gift. The final brick he needed to complete that wall he's been trying to put between them. A wall that may very well end up separating them forever."

"So stop him." Jack said simply.

"I…I don't even know where to begin. I can't even really tell him the truth without possibly creating another paradox. Give me Daleks, give me Cybermen. Bring on the Slitheen and the Vashta Nerada. Hell, I'll even take on a damn Alien Lust Virus. That I can deal with. There's a monster, we find a way to kill it, save the world and go have chips. But this, trying to get the most stubborn man in all of creation to let go of his fears, make him admit to and act on his feelings when all he wants to think about is how miserable he might be in the future instead of focusing on what's right in front of him. How? How do I do that Jack?"

"You be you."

She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. "You really believe in me that much, huh?"

"Well if anyone..." he stopped abruptly. "Hold on, I'm getting a reading. The time window's been activated."

"It's about bloody time!" The grating sound of the fireplace moving punctured the surrounding silence. "Yeah, I can hear him and...oh you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

"He's inviting that woman to come with him."

"That's it," Jack growled. "I'm punching him again!"

"I'm signing off Jack."

"Wait Red, what I was going to say before…I know you can do this. If anyone can get through to that thick skull of his besides Rose, it's you. I'll see you soon."

"Aye, aye, Captain." She took a another deep breath as she waited for the Time Lord to make his appearance. _'I hope you're right Jack. I really hope you're right.'_

 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 

"Roooooose!" the Doctor called out, bouncing on his feet with a pleased grin. "Mickey?" he paused, hearing only the faint hum of the ship’s engine. "Rose?" he tried again. "Where are you?"

His face fell at the lack of response, the huge grin quickly dissolving into a pout as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards the control room. Thinking back over everything that had happened, while it had technically only been a couple of hours for him, the thought of being separated from Rose for hundreds of years had made him extremely anxious to see her.

By breaking through the mirror he had been able to sever the droids connection to the ship, effectively destroying them and resetting the timeline to its proper state. Once he made sure the droids had been properly disposed of to avoid anyone getting their hands on the futuristic technology; which would have led to a whole-nother set of problems, he had plucked a glass of wine from a passing tray as the party resumed and retreated to one of the sitting rooms to wallow in self-regret. As he stood there staring sullenly up at the stars he had imagined Rose doing the same, which just sent another wave of guilt washing over him. He knew what he had done was reckless and although neither Rose nor his own conscience would have allowed him to sit back and let innocent people die, he had still managed to foolishly trap himself without any sort of plan for getting back, far away from his beloved ship and the one person in all of creation he cared for the most. The thought of having to live several centuries on the slow path until he could see her again terrified him to his core, so naturally when Reinette found him and showed him that the original fireplace had been moved there to the castle he was elated. He could finally see the light at the end of that long dark tunnel he had almost been condemned to and in the end it only took a little prodding from his sonic screwdriver to activate the time window and send him home.

Throughout the short amount of time he had spent in France he became well aware of Reinette's feelings for him, so seeing the hurt and disappointment on her face as the wall spun back into the ship only managed to fill him with even more guilt. It was his own fault really. He had allowed himself to indulge in her affections in a misguided attempt to create some distance from another situation he was having a hard time dealing with. That being one Rose Tyler, with whom he had grown dangerously close to over the last couple of years, and he had been in immediate need of something that could effectively reconstruct the barriers she had broken down. Unfortunately as usual, the situation had gotten way out of hand and he wasn't sure yet what the repercussions might be. Although his ultimate goal had been distraction, he had a sinking feeling that he might have caused way more damage than was intended. Part of him felt that pushing Rose away was for the best, knowing that pursuing anything more with her would only end in heartache but another part of him was worried he may have pushed her too far with this particular stunt. He was also inwardly berating himself for the way in which he had misled Reinette regarding his intentions, but once again he had just dove into the situation without any forethought of the outcome and he owed it to Reinette to at least offer her a trip to the stars after everything she had been through. So ignoring the warning bells in his head that were screaming it was a bad idea, he ducked down to call to her through the fireplace, telling her to pack a bag and pick a star and then leapt to his feet to seek out his companions.

The Doctor’s initial elation over his fortuitous return was now transitioning to slight apprehension as he walked along. He had expected to see Rose's beautiful face, lit up with that smile she held only for him, waiting and ready to be swept up in one of their ‘slightly more than platonic’ reunion hugs that he so deeply cherished. In fact, from the moment he stepped out of that fireplace he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and breathe her in so that he could put this day behind them and pretend he hadn’t just almost lost her for a few centuries. He made a happy noise in the back of his throat as he pictured her reaction to his return, his imagination creating the wonderful imagery of her leaping into his arms and giggling while he spins her around and holds her tight. Of course, emotionally charged situations can sometimes lead to other expressions of affection as well; which he knew first-hand after a short bout of having been turned to stone in ancient Rome. So if she were to maybe kiss him in the heat of the moment... well, he wouldn’t exactly be opposed to it. As he stepped into the control room ready to enact his little fantasy, he announced his presence in the normal fashion. He really did have quite the gob in this body as well as a knack for showing off.

"Can you believe it? Reinette actually kept the original fireplace from her childhood home. Had it moved to the castle and everything. And of course me being as brilliant as I am, with some slight jiggery-pokery I was able to get it back online and here I am. Isn't that…?"

He stopped short at the sight of the ginger haired girl sitting in the Captain's chair with her feet propped up on the console. Her arms were crossed and she was staring at her converse clad feet very intently. The Doctor’s smile quickly faded, his eyes narrowing and his mouth forming a thin line as he stared at the young woman.

"Who are you?" he asked in a somewhat deadpan tone.

"A friend." The girl replied with an air of nonchalance. "Oh and uh, you can't go back for her." She nodded back towards the direction from which he came.

The Doctor’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about and where's Rose?” he asked, looking around as he pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and began scanning the room for some sign of his pink and yellow girl.

"You can't go back for Madame de Pompadour." she said popping the second 'P'.

"What?" he turned back to her with a glare, wondering who the hell she thought she was to tell him what he could and couldn’t do. "Who are you and where the hell is Rose?" he snapped. “I demand you tell me where she is right now!”

The girl continued to stare at her feet, ignoring the threatening look he was giving her and seemingly not at all bothered by his outburst. "She's safe. Mickey is too." she added, noting that he hadn't even given the younger man a second thought since the first time he called out for them. "They're in the TARDIS." She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. The Doctor looked towards his ship suspiciously making the girl sigh and stand up. "Honestly, she's fine. Weell, when I say fine I mean physically anyway." His head snapped back towards her at that statement and his brows furrowed. "She's got Mickey to thank for that." she continued. "He took on one of those creepy masked droids back there and froze it before it could harvest their organs. Not that you would've known, seeing as you were off partying with the French. I shudder to think what would have happened to her if he hadn't been here."

Several emotions passed over The Doctor's features, quickly switching from fear to relief before settling on indignation as he spoke again. "First of all, I was not off partying with Fre-“

"Five and a half hours by the way." She cut him off as she leaned back against the wall, crossing one foot over the other and shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"What?"

"That’s how long you've been gone. Five and a half hours, in case you were wondering." Before the Doctor even had a chance to respond, the redhead began laying into him. "And what were you thinking inviting that woman along anyway? You want to take an important historical figure out of her timeline for a quick trip to the stars with your track record of accidental destinations? Did you fall off that horse and hit your head when you crashed through that mirror, 'cause that's all kinds of levels of stupid right there."

"It was only going to be one trip. I didn't…I wasn't…" he sputtered, trying to figure out exactly why he was trying to explain his actions to a stranger. "What business is it of yours anyway and just who the bloody hell are you?!"

She smiled mischievously. "Spoilers."

"What the hell does that mean?"

The redhead glanced over at him warily. She really was planning on trying to have a proper conversation with him but upon hearing him give the invite to that woman, the anger over the whole situation took control once more. "It means I can’t tell you. All you need to know is that I'm someone who's very important to you in the future and I'm here to try to clean up this mess you've made."

The Doctor looked taken aback. "The mess I've…?”

"Are you in love with her?" The girl interjected.

"Wha-, Who?"

"Reinette?" she bit out distastefully.

"What? No. How could I be? I've barely known her a day. I mean she’s attractive and quite brilliant and I admit I may have been a bit star struck..."

"Diggin' the hole deeper there, Doc."

He glared at her again, the shortened use of his name making him uncomfortable for a different reason. One he didn't want to think about at the moment. "Reinette is an amazing woman, and I care for her but I'm not in love with her." ' _Why was he telling this girl any of this?_ '

"Because you're in love with Rose." she stated with conviction.

"Rose and I are none of your business." He ground out. "Don't presume to think you know everything just because you're supposedly from my future."

"Okay, I'm presuming am I? Well, let's see," she began ticking items off on her fingers. "You asked her to come away with you what was it…three times? You never ask more than once. You took her back to be with her dad when he was hit by the car so he wouldn't die alone…"

"She created a paradox." He countered.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like you've never made an error in judgment in the heat of the moment. And anyway, I wasn't finished."

"Oh look at that, rude and ginger." he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that." she said shooting him a look. The Doctor folded his arms across his chest and shrugged, reminding her of some of the old photos Jack had showed her of his previous leather clad regeneration. With a slight smirk and a shake of her head, she pressed on. “And then there was your first date."

The Doctor glanced over at her then, his expression one of feigned ignorance.

"Oh c'mon, don’t give me that look like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You took her to see the actual end of the earth. I mean talk about trying to make a big first impression. And then of course there was that cozy little dinner of chips for two afterwards. Holding hands while getting to know one another in that back corner booth of that London chippy, even though you made her pay.” She paused shaking her head. “I don't know why with as many times as you go to Earth you don’t keep more currency on you." Ignoring the irritated look he was now giving her, she continued. "You also sculpted a statue in her likeness, from memory mind you, oh…and did you or did you not kiss her in Rome?"

"I…well, I…" he faltered.

“And speaking of kisses,” she cut him off again. “I'll give you the number one reason why I know you love her. You died for her Doctor. You gave your life for her on Satellite 5 and this regeneration," she motioned in his direction. "Was made for her. You recreated yourself based on your feelings for her into someone who you thought would be her perfect match. Just like she was recreated to be yours."

His head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

 _'Crap!'_ She really needed to get ahold of her emotions before she said too much _._ "Nothing." She waved her hands dismissively; quickly changing the subject. "Not to mention you get all puppy dog eyed whenever you look at her."

"I do not get all puppy dog eyed." He protested weakly, immediately losing his train of thought to the girl’s annoyingly accurate depiction of his feelings.

"Right.” She drawled. “So, do you need a written formal request or are you gonna go in there and set things straight with Rose?"

He looked up in confusion. "What do you mean? What things?"

"I mean,” she said slowly, crossing her arms. “Rose thinks you ran off and left her for the slow path with the King's Mistress."

"I…What?” he shook his head as though to clear it. “Why would she think that?"

"Well, what did you expect her to think when you go snogging that woman and letting her walk around your brain so intimately?"

"I didn't…that's not what happened. She kissed me. And I didn't ask her to look at my memories. I was just trying to find out...wait, why am I even trying to explain myself to you?"

"Good question. You _should_ be explaining yourself to Rose."

The Doctor glared at her, teeth clenched. "For the last time, Rose and I are none of your business."

"Oh, but you are." She replied coolly, her own anger beginning to bubble up just below the surface.

"And why is that hmm?" he was becoming more and more agitated by the second. "No, better yet, how about you start by telling me the truth about who you are and why you're really here."

The girl sighed, trying to regain some control over her emotions and rubbed the back of her neck. "Temporal Paradox.” She supplied. “Oh, don't give me that look, I didn't cause it, I’m trying to fix it. Look, you always say that no one is supposed to know too much about their future so I can't tell you everything you want to know. All I can tell you is that what happened here today began a ripple effect that somehow changed the future. All of our futures." she amended.

His eyes burned into her as she spoke. "Why should I believe you? Why should I believe any of this? I don't even know who you are. You tell me you're from my future, you talk in riddles and you just expect me to trust you?"

"Alright, fine. You don’t believe me; have a look at my memories then."

The Doctor took a step back. "What?"

"I've seen what happens if this new timeline is allowed to continue and you need to see it too." Observing his discomfort, she hurried to reassure him. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna go barging into your mind like _she_ did. I'm better than that. And I know how to keep you away from the stuff I don't want seen." She walked over and stopped directly in front of him. "Go on then." she said giving the Doctor a pointed look.

He hesitated for a moment in deliberation and then nodded, raising his arms. The girl pushed the memories she wanted him to see to the forefront of her mind, barricading everything else; including her identity behind a wall and as he closed his eyes and touched the tips of his fingers to her temples, the images began to play out like a movie. The first flashes were of Cybermen and Daleks and he felt a wave of anger pass through him. _'Of course they survived. They always manage to survive while I continue to lose everything'_. The scene shifted and suddenly he was in a large white room, wind whipping about him as he clutched onto the handle of a metal clamp attached to the wall, watching in horror and anguish while Rose screamed and reached out for him as she was pulled through the air towards the breach before being caught in the arms of a man long thought to be dead and vanishing. "Pete? Pete Tyler? That's…but that's Rose's father." He said in disbelief, voice rising slightly in pitch. "But he's dead, how can he be…"

"Focus Doctor." The redhead's voice interjected.

He walked towards the cold white wall and pressed his hand and face up against it. For a few moments he could still feel her warmth and then it was gone. Resolutely, he pulled back, shoving his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room. The image dissolved and a final memory took its place. He was now standing on a deserted beach staring at Rose's tearstained face, knowing he couldn't even reach out to touch her. In the distance he could just make out Mickey, Jackie and Pete leaning up against a large Jeep. Rose shivered against the cold, bitter wind as it swept around them but he couldn’t feel it. Instead he felt numb; almost dead inside, both of his hearts breaking simultaneously as he was forced to say goodbye to the love of his lives.

 

_"Am I ever gonna see you again?" Rose asked shakily._

_He shook his head and spoke softly. "You can't."_

_"What are you gonna do?"_

_"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."_

_"On your own?"_

_He nodded, attempting a weak smile while trying to keep his tears at bay_ _._

 _"I L_ _..._ _” the words caught in her throat for a moment and she looked away. Taking a deep breath Rose met his eyes. "I Love You." she choked out as the tears fell in earnest._

_"Quite right too." He forced a smile as he felt his whole world caving in. "And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it. Rose Tyler," his mouth began to form the words but his time had run out. She was gone. His Rose was gone._

 

Opening his eyes and shaking his head, he yanked his hands away from the girl’s head as though she had burned him. "What?" he breathed. "That..." He paused, realizing that he had been crying and quickly wiped away the tears that were running down his cheeks.

"That's what will happen if you don't find a way to fix what’s gone wrong between the two of you." The redhead told him, her voice wavering. "Doctor, none of what I just showed you was ever supposed to happen. Those….things, those droids, by meddling with the timeline they brought you here and changed the future. To most people it wouldn't even seem significant, but you and I know better don't we? It's the actions that surround that tiny insignificant moment. The choices made. The aftermath. The fallout. All it takes is one little fissure, one tiny little crack administered at the right place at the right moment to make everything fracture."

"I can't listen to this."

The Doctor closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to believe the girl but he had seen the truth in her mind so clearly and through those memories, experienced every single emotion emanating from his future self, leaving him feeling destitute and bereft. Rose had been separated from him, forever. He had always known that someday he would eventually lose her but even with all the different possibilities lain out before them, this was beyond anything he could have ever imagined. But then again, maybe this was the universe’s way of doing him a kindness. Instead of losing her to the fleeting hand of time or even worse getting her killed in one of the many danger situations he was constantly putting her in, she could actually go on to live a normal life. The kind he had always wanted for her. She could have the family she always desired, both of her parents alive and together. She could even settle down with a house and a family of her own. He winced at that thought, especially after remembering that Mickey had also been in that vision. Would she rekindle her relationship with him? Get married, have kids? The mere idea of her being with Mickey; or any other guy for that matter, made him feel like lashing out. Someone else being able to hold her hand, see her smile, hear her laugh, make love to her…. He swallowed roughly as he felt that sharp pain in his chest again. They had never crossed the boundaries of friendship, so it was selfish he knew; being jealous when he himself had laid out the rules that kept them apart.

The truth he didn’t want to face was that he was scared. After all the excuses, all the lies he told himself for why they couldn’t be together until he began to believe them, he was honestly terrified. He was afraid to let himself love her, properly love her, knowing he would have to go on without her one day. Reuniting with Sarah Jane had been a thrilling and yet eye opening experience. While he was elated to see his dear friend, her perception of the way they had parted was sobering to say the least. He had not only left her in the wrong place when he dropped her off, but even though she managed to live a productive life, she had never really gotten over him. Listening to her words about what happens to those left behind only served to strengthen his resolve on why he has a policy of never going back, never allowing himself to get too close. Yes he cared for all his companions but in the end he would inevitably lose them to either death or pursuit of their own happiness. It was better to cut his losses and leave them behind rather than to deal with messy goodbyes.

But then he met Rose and everything he ever knew or believed in was tossed out the proverbial window. The moment he took her hand he had fallen hard and while he was busy showing Rose her true potential, she was busy helping to heal him from the pain brought on by the Time War. That sweet innocent little shop girl had managed to work her way past his defenses and make him feel things he hadn’t in a very, very long time. They had already grown so dangerously close that he knew if he let it go any further he would never recover when he lost her. Human lives were so fleeting and the quick jaunt through Reinette's timeline today just reiterated that point. He thought by bringing Mickey onboard he might act as a buffer, but when that didn't work he immediately jumped at the chance to chase after Reinette. With her there would be no complications, no expectations, no real feelings involved and he could create the distance he needed between him and Rose. Only now he was being presented with just how much damage his actions had caused. He had screwed up royally, and in an attempt to get some distance had hurt her deeply. Maybe the universe was right to take her away. He didn't deserve her. He was selfish in trying to keep her for himself, only to keep her at an arm’s length. Coward every time.

"Maybe it's better this way." his voice was so quiet, she almost didn't hear him.

"That’s it? That’s your response?" The girl replied, incredulously. "After everything I showed you you’re not gonna even try? You’re just going to let it happen?”

He kept his back to the girl speaking softly but resolutely. "She was safe and she had her family. Her mother and father were together and she had Mickey. Maybe that's how it should be. With me she’s always in danger. This way she’s protected and can finally have a real life. The one adventure I could never have, but she can."

The redhead felt her control slipping. He was supposed to be fighting to keep Rose with him, not trying to convince himself it would be better for her to go.

“Doctor, this isn’t like you just dropping her back home and coming back to check in on her every so often. You would never see her again.”

“You think I don’t know that!” he yelled, spinning back to face her. “You think I want her go? You think I don’t want to defy the laws of time to keep her with me forever? If I wasn’t so selfish, I would have taken her back to her mother and away from this mess I call a life a long time ago! But I can’t because I need her!”

"Of course you need her!" she shot back. "Just like she needs you, because the two of you are stronger together. Yet here you are, talking about giving her up!"

"I can't give her the life she wants!” he roared; fists clenched and teeth bared. “The domesticity, settling down and doing normal human things like buying a house and getting a mortgage and having a family, I can’t give her any of that. You said you know me in your future. Then you know I don't die. I regenerate and then a new man with a new face walks away. But she's human. She can be with me for as long as she lives her fragile human existence but then I have to go on. Alone. There is no happily ever after for me!"

"Oh, here we go.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “Have you ever thought for just a moment that maybe she doesn’t want all that normal ‘human stuff’ as you put it? I mean have you even ever actually talked to her about any of this?" She was shouting now as well. "No, because you have to be Mr. Thickity, Thick face from Thicktown, all moody and brooding because ' _You're cursed. The last of the Time Lords, doomed to spend his life alone'_ _._ " she mocked with finger quotes. "Same song, different verse Doctor.” She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Look, I get it. Your run-in with Sarah Jane scared you because it made you have to face things you never want to be reminded of.”

His eyes widened at the mention of his former companion and friend, a look of disbelief and inquiry regarding her knowledge of Sarah Jane passing over his features, but the girl disregarded his expression and continued on.

"You've built up this whole thing in your mind where you like to imagine everyone who's come and gone as living in some sort of ageless plastic bubble where their lives are perfect and seeing her again shattered that illusion. It reminded you of just how fleeting a human life can be. That’s why you're always running away, Doctor. Because you don't want to see the outcome of what’s left behind, because you hate endings, because that way in your mind they can then live forever. So you’ve been pushing Rose away because you think she’d be happier without you. That way maybe she would decide to leave on her own and you can go on pretending like you always do, that everyone leaves you in the end because of your ‘curse’. That maybe it would spare you the pain of losing her later on if you’re able to imagine her as this untouchable immortal being. But she’s not immortal Doctor and neither are you. Look at how reckless you were before the two of you met, treating your regenerations as though they’re a damn ‘get out of jail free card’. You’re a little over what, about 900 at this point in time and already on your tenth body? Do the math Doctor. As of this moment now, she could very well outlive you based on how quickly you’ve gone through your last three regenerations. Maybe instead of constantly worrying about the future, you try living in the present.”

His eyes were dark and his jaw clenched. "You think you’ve got it all figured out then do you? All cut and dried, nice and tidy with a ribbon on top. You don’t know anything.” He growled as he turned away, running his hands through his hair.

"Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t know everything, but I do know that not twenty-four hours ago you made it quite clear to Rose that you can’t have relationships because of your lifespan and promised that you would never leave her and then you go and almost strand yourself by swanning off to play house with Reinette."

He turned back, giving her an icy glare. "That is not what I was doing."

"No? Because that's exactly what it looked like to Rose. “You tell her you don’t do that sort of thing and then some rich, intelligent, high-class, historical woman comes along and you’re suddenly ready to settle down on the slow path because she’s what, better? Is the Uncrowned Queen of France more suited for The Almighty Doctor when compared to a simple little shop girl from London?”

“Don’t you dare talk about her like that!” he yelled, eyes flashing. “Rose is everything to me!”

“Well you have a funny way of showing it. I mean, how the hell was she supposed to take it when you and Reinette practically threw it in her face? Not to mention that every time she's tried to to talk to you about your past, you close yourself off but then you turn around and open up your mind and let Reinette waltz right in. Why?"

"It wasn’t like that." He growled in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. "I was only looking through her memories to figure out what the droids wanted and she somehow managed to slip into my mind when I let my guard down. When I found out what she had done I immediately broke the connection. I certainly didn’t invite her to take a walk through my memories. It pissed me off actually, but I let it go because…I needed to maintain the distraction. She saw maybe a few random glimpses of my childhood that's all." He gave a self-deprecating laugh. "If she had really seen any significant portion of my past, she would have realized I was the real monster and ran screaming in terror." He ran his hands over his face and sighed. "My past is not something I would ever want to burden Rose with. The things I've done, the man I really am, she would hate me."

"It’s just one excuse right after another with you. You are completely daft, you know that?" she said and he looked up at her, brows furrowed in confusion. "Rose looked into the time vortex, dumbo. She saw it all. Everything that has ever been and she could have run from it, run from you Doctor. But she didn't did she? Instead she came back to save you and laid the Dalek fleet to waste."

His eyes were lost in remembrance for a moment and he swallowed roughly as Rose’s words replayed in his head. _'I want you safe, My Doctor'_.

"If that doesn't convince you of her unconditional love and capacity for forgiveness, I don't know what can.” She sighed and shook her head. “You have to let go Doctor, you have to stop being so damn afraid of what you could lose and embrace what you have right now. You can't honestly tell me after seeing those images that it will hurt any less whether you lost her tomorrow or in a hundred years. Sometimes it's better to live on with the pain when you can look back on the memories of all the joy and happiness of the life you were able to share; no matter how fleeting, than to live on chasing the ghosts of regret."

The Doctor looked defeated, hundreds of years of pain visibly etched across his face. She wanted so badly to reveal herself, to hug him, to give him some sort of peace of mind that everything could work out better than he could ever hope for as he stood there looking so broken. Ultimately she couldn't make him change this, no matter what it meant for her future. It had to be his decision. But that didn't mean she couldn't help influence him just a little. He always said words have power, something he had once reiterated to Shakespeare. Not just any words though. No, these words were specific. Their true meaning only to be known to a select few which meant he would know exactly who they came from. Maybe that would give him that slight spark of reassurance he needed for what it could mean for his future. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to stand in front of the Time Lord and took his hand in her own.

The Doctor looked down at their entwined fingers; amazed by the tingling sensation of familiarity he felt and looked up into the girl's warm hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry that i can't tell you what you want to know." She sighed and gave him a rueful smile. "I wish I could tell you everything so that I could make you understand but we both know I can't. This isn't one of those times where you can just go in and erase the memory. You have to make a choice, but before you do…" she broke off and leaned up to whisper two words in the Time Lord's ear that made his jaw go slack and the color drain from his face. She could sense that he had tensed up so she pulled back to look at him and squeezed his hand gently.

His eyes were wide and he swallowed thickly."How do you know that phrase?"

"It's not a warning this time Doctor, it's a message." She smiled softly, tears prickling her eyes. "She said it would lead you home."

He stared down at her in disbelief, searching her eyes for the answers to the questions he was too afraid to ask until he finally found his voice again. "Who are you?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Spoilers."

They stood staring at one another for a few more moments until Rose's timid voice broke the silence.

"Doctor?"

The Time Lord and the redhead both turned towards her, their glistening eyes mirroring her own and the Doctor looking somewhat shaken. Rose began to shift uncomfortably under their gaze and the girl seeing her obvious unease, smiled up at The Doctor; giving his hand one last squeeze before dropping it and making her way over to Rose. Stopping right in front of her, she reached out and took her hands.

"You are an amazing woman Rose Tyler; absolutely brilliant. Don't ever let anyone make you think differently." she said choking back a sob before wrapping her arms around Rose's neck and hugging her tight. The girl hadn't meant to let her emotions overtake her so completely, but seeing the two of them and knowing that there was a possibility it could be for the last time, was just too much for her to handle.

Rose tensed up slightly as the girl embraced her and began to sob silently against her shoulder but then that intense protective instinct washed over her once more giving her the sudden urge to comfort the girl, so she began stroking the redhead's back and murmuring soothing words.

The girl allowed herself a few more moments of Rose's comforting embrace until her tears finally began to taper off. "You can't give up okay?" she murmured against her shoulder. "I know he screwed up but please don't give up. You have to keep trying, even if he continues to push you away because the two of you are meant to be. Your love is written in the stars across time and space. And I know he's stubborn, but so are you. You're his strength Rose. You're the wolf who heralds the storm." She whispered the last sentence and felt Rose's body stiffen. Pulling back, she met her eyes.

"Why did you say that? Why those words?" Rose asked in a low voice, chancing a glance at the Doctor who was still standing on the opposite side of the room, watching them carefully. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind the blonde's ear. "You once saw all that is, all that was and all that ever could be. I think maybe deep down you already know the answer to that question."

Rose's breath caught as the sensation of familiarity she had been having since meeting this mysterious girl washed over her once more and suddenly the connection was made. She didn't know how she knew, she just did and the smile that now lit up the girl's face only served to confirm her conclusion. She reached a shaky hand up and cupped the redhead's cheek, her hazel eyes glistening. "Oh my god." she said softly, a single tear slipping free.

The girl nodded, placing her own hand over Rose's. "Like I said, absolutely brilliant." She gave her a watery smile as she pulled away.

The Doctor, finally having managed to get his legs to work, had moved across the room to stand next to Rose. Their hands found one another of their own accord and as their fingers laced together, they looked up into each other's eyes.

"I've gotta go." the ginger said softly, wishing she hadn't interrupted the moment. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand and shook her head. "Just think about what I said okay? _Really Think._ " Her eyes flicked between the pair somewhat in awe and she couldn't help but smile. "The Doctor and Rose Tyler. The stuff of legend."

At her words, the pair refocused their attention on one another and shared a smile, allowing her to take a few steps back and activate the com link in her ear. Turning her head away slightly, she whispered. "Jack? Jack, are you there? Jack, come in." She was met with only static and when she looked down at her hand, it was once again transitioning between solid and see through. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she began to fiddle with the device on her wrist. The future, _her future_ was in their hands now. Hell, she could easily blink out of existence before she made it back to the hub if the Doctor didn't pull his head out of his arse and just admit his feelings. ' _Oi! That was a bit rude._ ' she thought to herself, albeit true.

"Wait," Rose called out when she noticed her moving away, breaking her train of thought. "What's your name? Can you at least tell us that?"

The ginger looked up and smiled softly shaking her head. "I can’t, but I'm hoping that I'll see the two of you again very soon." She could sense further questions coming from both of them and put her hand up once more. "It will all make sense when it's time. I promise." Her gaze drifted to Rose, whose eyes and smile radiated love and warmth, giving her a glimmer of hope.

"Anyway," she cleared her throat. "I've gotta go." She took a moment to look at them one last time and then with a wink to The Doctor, she shouted "Allons-y!" as she activated the vortex manipulator on her wrist and vanished in a flash of blue light.

The pair stood staring at the empty space in which she had been for several long moments before The Doctor finally broke the silence.

"She knew about us and our future. Things she shouldn't have known.” He turned to look at her. “What did she say to you?"

"Aren’t you the one always tellin’ me we’re not supposed to know too much about our own future?” Rose asked, giving him one of her signature tongue in tooth smiles.

As he took in her beautiful hazel eyes and brilliant grin, his questions regarding the mystery woman were immediately pushed aside. The thought that his actions had almost caused him to be without that smile for hundreds of years made his hearts ache and his grip immediately tightened on her hand as he pulled her closer.

"I’m sorry Rose, I'm so sorry." He said quietly.

Rose’s smile faltered as she looked up into his soulful brown eyes and she took a deep breath. "I know you are, and I get why you had to do it. They were going to kill her, and she needed your help. It jus’...it hurt. Because you left and you didn't even say goodbye and i thought…" She dropped her head, unable to finish the sentence.

"Rose," He said gently, placing two fingers beneath her chin and tilting her head up to look at him. When her eyes met his, they were already shining with tears and it sent a surge of pain through his hearts as he realized she truly believed he had left her for Reinette. "I never meant to leave you." He swore, needing to make her understand. “I was just so caught up in the moment and I had to save her. I couldn't just let those things change history when they were never meant to be here in the first place.” He brushed away the tears now running down her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs as he looked into her eyes. “But I also didn’t take time to weigh all the possible outcomes for my actions. I was stupid and arrogant and reckless and it wasn’t until I looked up at those broken shards of glass hanging from the wall that I realized what I had done."

"S' okay Doctor. I understand." Rose sniffed softly. “We all do crazy things when we’re in love.”

After all she had ripped open the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the entire Time Vortex in order to try to save him from the Dalek fleet on Satellite 5; not caring if it killed her in the process, and she knew she would do it again in a heartbeat. That's how much she loved him, which was why it hurt all the more that he could fall for someone he had just met so quickly. When she thought about it, she had to admit to herself that she shouldn't be surprised that The Doctor would be besotted with Reinette. After all, she was beautiful, refined and intelligent. How could he not fall for her? Judging by how captivated and taken he was with the courtesan and her with him, she figured it must have been love at first sight. Something she knew about all too well, because that's what it was for her the moment The Doctor grabbed her hand in the basement of Henrik's and told her to run.

Now as she stood before him with her heart breaking, she had to remind herself that he was never really hers and she had no actual claim to him. Mostly because he emphasized that he didn't do that sort of thing. Of course they flirted and held hands. There were lingering hugs and stolen glances, an occasional statement with a deeper meaning that would be quickly glossed over and never spoken of again and then there were times when they would look at one another as though they could see into the other's soul and she would think maybe…but she was content to take what he would give as long as it meant being with him. After his regeneration his affection had increased tenfold, even showing slightly more domestic tendencies including Christmas dinner with her mom and Mickey. He had even begun to spend nights with her in her room. Mainly talking or reading or just cuddling into one another's embrace after a particularly harrowing adventure. There were never any lines crossed or hints of intimacy, although a few times she swore she caught a glimpse of something akin to longing in his eyes when he looked at her, but then as soon as it appeared it was quickly locked away again. Over the last couple of weeks however, it seemed as though they might be reaching a turning point.

After the events with good Queen Vickie they had been lounging on the couch in the library in front of the fireplace, talking and laughing and as the conversation drifted off, their eyes met in the firelight. A surge of energy filled the air, breaths were held as their lips drew nearer and then her cell phone rang and the moment was gone. Mickey called them home, The Doctor was reunited with Sarah Jane and from there it all came crumbling down. The barriers were firmly back in place, Mickey joined them in their travels and then they ended up here, where The Doctor proved that he did in fact "do that sort of thing". Just not with her. She had lost him to the slow path with someone better. Someone she could never be, and while the revelation of the mystery girl’s true identity had given her a sliver of hope for the future, she could also still hear that familiar Northern voice in the back of her head warning her that time could be changed in an instant. What it came down to was did she love him enough to let him go and be happy with the woman he truly loved and wanted to be with or be selfish and try to push for a future that his recent actions had proved they couldn't possibly have and would she really want it if he didn't feel the same for her. Standing here and looking at him now, she knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him no matter what pain it brought her and she had her answer.

“I know how much you love her so if you want to go back and be with her, me and Mickey can always go home for a bit." she murmured.

He could hear the heartbreak in her tone even as she tried to hide it and he hated himself for his own cowardice. Everything that girl had told him was true. Rose believed he had chosen Reinette over her and now here she was, always so selfless his Rose, putting his happiness above her own even as it broke her. He didn’t deserve her.

"I don't want you to go." He said quietly.

She looked up at him then, confusion written all over her face. "But you love her. I thought you would want to…"

“Rose,” He cut her off, reaching a hand up to cup her cheek as he looked into her eyes. "I’m not in love with Reinette."

"But," She shook her head in disbelief. "You kissed her and she saw into your mind. She saw parts of you no one ever has. Not even me."

"First off, she kissed me and she saw a tiny glimpse into my childhood that's all. That's not enough information to really know someone. You know more about me than she ever will." Rose opened her mouth to argue but he shook his head. "It's true Rose. After the war I was lost, but when I met you…you saved me Rose. Over and over again you've saved me, standing by my side, being my hand to hold. You've seen my darkness and you never flinched. Not once. Sometimes you even know me better than I know myself. I need you Rose." He took a breath and ran a hand through his hair as he readied himself to make his confession. "Rose, what happened between Reinette and I… I'll admit that I was a bit infatuated and intrigued by her position in human history, but I'm not in love with her. How could I be when I…" he paused, swallowing roughly. ' _Stop being a coward,_ ' he heard the redhead say in his head and he took another deep breath. "Remember what I told you outside of the chip shop? I said that you could spend the rest of your life with me but I couldn't spend the rest of mine with you and while technically that still holds true..."

"S' okay Doctor." she interjected. "I get it. I really do. You made yourself clear that night. M’ not goin' anywhere though. I made my choice a long time ago and M’ never gonna leave you. So even though you don't want…" she took a deep breath and shook her head. "We'll always be best mates, yeah? S’ enough for me."

As he listened to her he internally berated himself for how much he had hurt her. Would it really be so hard for him to admit to Rose how he felt? If there was one thing he had learned over his 900 plus years it was that he didn't want to have any more regrets; especially not ones where she was concerned. Even if he had a hundred years with her or two days he didn't want to be haunted by 'what if's' after she was gone. He wanted to make the most of the time he had with her now. It was time for the Time Lord to stop running.

"What if I want more?" he asked gently.

Rose looked taken aback, opening and closing her mouth several times but unable to form a response as she searched his eyes.

"Rassilon help me, I'm rubbish at this." he said rubbing his neck. He looked down and took both of her hands in his own. "The truth is I'm tired Rose," he said sincerely. "Tired of running from what I really want. Tired of running from my feelings…for you." His eyes flicked up to meet hers and her jaw dropped. Swallowing roughly he pushed through his nerves and continued. "I keep putting barriers between us; hurting you in the process because I thought it would make it easier to cope with the pain when I inevitably lose you. And I'm ashamed, because I used both Reinette's and Mickey's affections as distractions to keep us apart because I was scared. But I was wrong Rose, and I can't do it anymore. I don't want to. I’m already too forgone in what I feel for you and no matter how much time we have I want to make the most of it. _Together_." He emphasized the word, his eyebrows rising slightly as he gauged her reaction.

After a few seconds a smile began to spread across Rose's face, igniting his own and crinkling the corners of his eyes. He looked down at their hands and ran circles over the tops of hers with his thumbs. He swallowed again, steeling himself to tell her what he had wanted to for so long and looked up and into her eyes.

"Rose…" he paused, taking a deep breath.

Her lips twitched at the corners and she shook her head. "S' ok, you don't have to…"

"I know I don't." he interjected as he wrapped his arms around her waist; drawing her closer. "And I know you already know, but I need you to hear it." He looked deeply into her eyes. "Rose Tyler, I am completely, unabashedly, and irrevocably in love with you."

The smile that lit up her face at that moment took his breath away and his hearts began to leap in his chest as she placed a hand over each one.

"I love you too, my Doctor." She said, her eyes glistening with tears of joy. "So very much."

The air sizzled around them and at that moment all those excuses he made, all those barriers that had been put in place for so long keeping them apart shattered. He knew now that however much time they had together would never be enough but he was no longer going to run away from what he wanted. If he had to suffer through the pain of living on one day without her, then at least having the memories they would make together would dull that pain enough for him to go on. He loved this woman with his entire being, the pink and yellow human who had saved him in his darkest hour and he would deny them this no longer.

He leaned down until their lips were centimeters apart, their breath mingling as he lightly nuzzled her nose with his own and then he closed the remaining distance between them pressing his lips to hers ever so softly. Pulling back a fraction his eyes met hers; a silent question asked and permission granted, before descending on her mouth once more. His tongue swept lightly at the seam and she immediately parted her lips in response, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Her hands fisted in the material of his suit jacket as their tongues began dueling a gentle rhythm before moving upwards to run her fingers through his thick chocolate locks while he moved one of his hands up to cup the back of her head, keeping the other pressed against the small of her back to pull her closer.

After a few minutes and a need for air on Rose's part, they pulled back and rested their foreheads together. She smiled, taking several deep breaths. "Well, that was…"

"Yeah." He chuckled, smiling just as brightly. "I've been such a fool Rose. To think I wasted all that time. Time we could have spent..."

"Shh," she cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. "Let's jus' leave the past in the past. Unless of course we’re actually visitin’ the past." she added with a smirk.

He smiled back, pressing a kiss to her finger before brushing it aside to press his lips to hers once more as he wrapped his arms around her. "Rose Tyler." He drew out her name as he nuzzled her nose with his again. "How long you gonna stay with me?"

Rose lifted a hand up to his cheek, lovingly stroking his sideburn with her thumb as she looked into his eyes and smiled. "Forever."

His own hand reached up to cover hers, entwining their fingers and he pulled her in for one more lingering kiss. "Let's go home."

She nodded and hand in hand they slowly walked back to the TARDIS as the fireplace flickered and then extinguished itself behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I always felt The Doctor needed an arse kicking after this episode and as much as I like the thought of Rose telling him off, I just didn't see her doing that. Don't get me wrong, Rose is not the type of girl that won't stand up for herself or others as she has proved countless times, but when it comes to their true feelings for each other they both tend to back down from direct confrontation on the subject. So, that being said who better than a fiery ginger to put him in his place after that display of stupidity.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains a reference from Jack to the BBC novel: Only Human
> 
> Shenan's name was taken from Shenandoah which loosely translates to "Daughter of the sky or Daughter of the Stars" Just thought it fit.

**Chapter Four**

 

When the redhead reappeared in the middle of the Torchwood hub she stumbled slightly and groaned. "Blimey, I will never get used to that." She took a breath as she steadied herself and attempted to clear her head, the awareness of her surroundings now beginning to kick in. The first thing she noticed was that the building was no longer shaking, but before she could even process what that could mean she glanced down at herself. "I'm… I'm still here." she breathed out in disbelief; hands mapping out her face and hair. "I'm still here." She held up a trembling hand, turning it back and forth and flexing her fingers as she waited for the flicker. It didn't come.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! There's my girl!" Jack cheered, breaking her out of her reverie as he swept her up into a hug and twirled her around. Setting her down, he pulled back to look her in the eyes and grinned. "I knew you could do it Shenan."

She smiled back up at him but before she could respond a young man with a mop of spiky chestnut hair and warm brown eyes came sprinting out of Jack's office. "Hey little Sis." he said holding out his arms.

"J.P.!" The redhead let go of Jack and immediately grabbed her brother in a tight embrace.

"You did it Shenan." J.P. said squeezing her tight. "You fixed the timeline."

"I was afraid I hadn't done enough." She confessed as she pulled back and shook her head. "When I left everything was still up in the air and dad still seemed to be fighting with himself so..."

"I told you," Jack interrupted. "If anyone could get through to him it's you. You're so much more like your mom than you realize."

The redhead chuckled softly and then gasped; clamping a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, Mum!" When I left she was sick and…" she cast a worried glance past them towards the railing that overlooked the infirmary. "But J.P.'s back now that means she's okay too right?” Her eyes were now darting back and forth between The Captain and her brother. “So where is she?"

"M’ right here sweetheart." Rose's voice called out from behind her.

Shenan whirled around to see her parents standing hand in hand with huge grins on their faces and the sight of them together was enough to make her break down once more. Tears of joy and relief fell in earnest as she rushed over and threw herself into their arms.

"I was so scared." She sobbed against their shoulders. "Mum got sick and collapsed, J.P. had disappeared and I was slowly being erased from existence and then when we were on that ship I wanted to tell you both the truth so badly but Dad always says knowing too much about your own future could lead to more problems and I…"

"Shh, S' alright." Rose soothed her as she stroked her hair. "You did more for us than you realize. You were brilliant sweetheart. We owe you so much."

The Doctor hummed in agreement; rubbing her back and then leaned in to place a kiss on her head. "We are so proud of you Shenan."

She pulled back and looked up into her parents' faces, each looking down at her with expressions of love and affection. She returned their smiles and sniffed softly. "I wasn't sure if I gotten through to you or not. I mean, I knew mum wouldn't give up but dad was just being so damn pigheaded and stubborn..."

"Oi!" The Doctor mock frowned.

"Well she's not wrong Doc.” Jack piped up. “Trying to get through to you sometimes is like beating your head against a brick wall." He leaned against the edge of one of the workstation tables and crossed his arms. "In fact, I think Rose holds the universal record for being patient."

"He's got a point dad.” J.P. cut in. “Sometimes you really…" He stopped short at the look on his father's face and rubbed the back of his neck. "Right." He said slowly. “I'm just gonna let you guys finish talking and go get changed." He gestured to the TARDIS with his thumb. "You coming Uncle Jack?"

"Yeah." Jack pushed off the table. "All I'm saying Doc is that sometimes you just need a good punch in the face to put you in your right mind." He winked cheekily and then turned to follow J.P. into the TARDIS.

"Don't think I've forgotten about that." The Doctor growled.

"Oh, I would hope not. I still owe you another one actually." Jack called back over his shoulder with a grin.

Shenan finished wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand and exchanged an eye roll with her mother at the blatant display of testosterone.

"I'd like to see him try now that I'm not focused on my wife and kids blinking out of existence while the building falls down." The Doctor grumbled.

Rose rubbed his shoulder affectionately. "He’s jus' bein' protective of me that's all. S’ not like you haven’t done the same thing when you feel like someone’s wronged me."

The Doctor sighed. "He was right though. I deserved it and probably much more for that matter." He lifted a hand to her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I can never apologize enough for putting you through that emotional roller coaster."

"Hey," Rose squeezed the hand she was still holding. "I already forgave you a long time ago. No more regrets, yeah? And as for Jack, I think you two jus' need to kiss and make up." She grinned, tongue in teeth.

The Doctor arched a brow. "You know, I get enough innuendos from him as it is thank you very much. I don't need you giving him anymore ideas. It's bad enough he asks you for in depth details about our sex…"

"Okay then." Shenan broke in, clapping her hands together to draw their attention back to her so she wouldn't have to hear the end of that sentence. "So now that things seem to have settled down, I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me. Some of my memories are still a bit foggy but I had assumed they would automatically adjust as soon as I arrived back here. I mean, everything is back to normal right? Back to the way it was before all this happened?"

"Oh, yes, definitely.” The Doctor nodded vigorously. "Weell, For the most part anyway. Almost completely. Exactly the same with a few minor changes here and there but nothing for you to worry about.” He tried to sound reassuring, but couldn't meet her eye. “And as for your memories, they should adjust soon enough as your body and mind sync up with the stabilized timeline.”

Shenan studied him for a moment and then glanced over at her mother, who was acting equally as strange. “Okay, so what aren’t you telling me?”

"Nothin’.” Rose said quickly, shaking her head. “Everythin's exactly as it was except um…" She trailed off and looked up at her husband expectantly.

The Doctor looked from Rose back to Shenan and shrugged, tugging his ear lightly. “There might have been a few minor changes.”

He attempted to move past her, pulling Rose with him but Shenan anticipated his move and blocked their escape.

“Hold on, wait a minute.” She put her hand up. “What kinds of changes?”

"Weeell," The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not really a big deal per say. I mean, I guess that is to say that it would have to depend on your own personal view of what you would consider to be a big deal. I mean from a technical point of view, you could look at the situation as really just a minor inconvenience. Not even really an inconvenience though since we don't really adhere to a strict sense of time in this particular matter, even though your grandmother insists we keep track of them. Although I suppose the two of you quite like the significance as well seeing as it’s a part of your human heritage and…"

"Doctor?" Rose interjected, squeezing his hand again.

"Hmm?"

"You're ramblin’ again."

"Oh, right." He nodded, looking back at his daughter who was still waiting for an explanation. "Um, well, like I said, just a few minor changes. Once the timeline reset, we still ended up in all the places we were supposed to and met the people we were supposed to meet. We saved a few planets, made some narrowing escapes and you and your brother have a different birthday now, that's pretty much it."

"Wait, what?" Shenan asked confusedly. "Go back to that last part."

"Well," Rose paused, looking slightly awkward. "Like he said, everythin’ is still pretty much the same and your brother's still an hour older than you. S’ jus'…well, you guys were jus' conceived a little bit earlier that's all."

Shenan shook her head, still very much confused. "What do you mean?"

Rose and the Doctor glanced up at one another, their faces turning the same deep shade of crimson as they shared a knowing smile before turning their attention on anything but their daughter.

"Oh." Shenan paused watching the two of them fidget and then the penny dropped as her brain finally processed the information. "Oh my god! Right After I left?" she said in disbelief. "How did…I mean, what?"

"Well you see, when a mommy and daddy love each other…" The Doctor began making Rose snort loudly and elbow him in the side.

Shenan's jaw dropped."Oh my god Dad! That's not what I meant." Granted it was well known that her father had one of the biggest gobs, but sometimes she wished he would think to filter some things in his brain before they popped out of his mouth.

"I just thought it would have taken you more time to sort your feelings and that you would have taken mum somewhere romantic. I mean for god's sake, Uncle Mickey was still on board."

"I soundproofed the room with my sonic." The Doctor replied defensively.

Shenan closed her eyes, pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead.

"We didn't plan it exactly. It just…sort' a happened." Rose said gently. "There was a lot of pent up…tension."

"Right." The Doctor nodded in agreement. "And at that time we didn't know about the physical changes in your mother that made us compatible for conception and would later tie her to my lifespan."

"So naturally when we found out I was pregnant with you two a few weeks later…" Rose smiled, shifting her attention back The Doctor as he pulled her into his arms. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy."

"Oh, I don't know, What happened during and after the bonding ceremony made me pretty happy." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Did it now?" Rose asked; smiling seductively as she pulled on his tie.

An exasperated groan had them suddenly remembering their daughter was still witnessing the exchange and the Doctor pulled back and cleared his throat. "So anyway, Bing, Bang, Boom, New Birthday!" he chirped and Rose put hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Shenan gaped at the two of them. "Oh my god! I feel like I need to wash my brain out with bleach or at least sonic my mind clean. The two of you are like a couple of randy teenagers who can't keep their hormones in check."

"Ooooh, what are we discussing and can I be involved?" The Captain, who had emerged from the TARDIS dressed in a suit and tie, was rubbing his hands together vigorously and wagging his eyebrows.

"Oh, don't start." The Doctor moaned.

"I was just trying to offer my services…"

"Don't, just…don't" The Doctor shook his head.

"Did you know about this?" Shenan looked at Jack questioningly, who put his hands up in defense.

"Know about what?" J.P. asked, adjusting his tie as he approached. "What's going on now?"

"Oh, nothing really. Except that we apparently have a different birthday now." Shenan said. "But don't worry, you're still an hour older than me. Although, you probably won't be gloating about that as much now considering you were the first to go when all this started."

J.P. scratched the back of his head. "So, am I supposed to be upset about this?"

"No, I suppose not." she sighed. "I'm the one that got stuck with the unwanted imagery."

"Yeah, not sorry I missed that. Hey, so are we going or what? We promised Uncle Mickey and Aunt Martha that we'd pick them up in an hour for Aunt Donna's rehearsal dinner."

The Doctor tipped his head back, rolling his eyes. "Two words son, _Time_. _Machine_."

J.P. crossed his arms and gave his father a pointed look. "Two words dad, _Bad_. _Driver_."

"Oi!"

"Do I need to remind you about the family vacation we took to Florana, but instead ended up on Grundle being chased by Drashigs for two hours before we made it back to the TARDIS?"

"Or when we took Aunt Donna to Rome for her birthday and you ended up landing us there the eve before Volcano Day." Shenan added.

"Or how about the time we were headed to Kegron Pluva and ended up stranded in early 21st century Bromley for over a month." Jack chimed in.

The Doctor stood mouth agape as he looked down at his wife.

"There was that first trip after we met when we were only s'pose to be gone for twelve hours but ended up being twelve months in which you freaked out my mum and had her believin' Mickey killed me." she said looking up at him through her lashes and grinning.

"Oh, not you too." He groaned. "I'll have you know that your mother forgave me for that and it's really quite rude for all of you to just gang up on me for a few small miscalculations." He paused, a far off look in his eyes as he thought back to that first trip and something occurred to him. "Remind me that I owe Mickey an apology later." he whispered to Rose, who patted his arm again and smiled.

Shenan rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, I'm gonna go get ready. C'mon you two." She said motioning to Jack and her brother. "Let's give them a couple minutes alone. It's been a long day for all of us and we don't need to be taking jabs at one another."

The two men nodded in agreement and headed into the TARDIS. Before stepping in behind them, she gave one last quick glance over at her parents who were staring into each other's eyes again. She smiled softly and her eyes drifted up to the ceiling in a silent prayer of thanks to every deity she could think of for helping to make this moment possible and then slipped into the timeship, closing the door behind her.

 

**~oOo~**

 

The Doctor reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind Rose's ear before pulling her back into his arms. "So I guess I should thank you for putting up with me for so long." He said, locking his fingers together behind her waist.

Rose cocked her head and looked into his eyes. "You know M' jus' teasin' and that's not how I really see things right?" She ran her hands up his arms and over his chest, placing one over each heart.

"I know. I just…I know I can be stubborn and difficult at times but…" he sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you for never giving up on me."

"And I never will." She said confidently with a wide smile.

He chuckled softly, his grin mirroring her own. "Do you know how much I Love You?"

"Hmm," she tilted her head as if in thought. "Why don't you show me."

The Doctor leaned down, nuzzling her nose with his own and then captured her lips, melding her body into his as she ran her hands through his hair. She sighed happily and he took advantage of her parted lips to slide his tongue into her mouth and deepen the kiss. He didn't think he could ever get enough of her. For so long, the fear of losing everything kept him from seeing what he could gain and once he finally stopped holding back, he realized he could have everything he always wanted. Rose was in his arms, she had done the impossible by giving him a womb born son and daughter and she was bound to his lifespan so that they would both have their 'forevers'; which he would make sure of with every fiber of his being. He moved one hand to the small of her back to pull her tighter against him while the other wound through her hair cupping the back of her head and she moaned into his mouth. For a few minutes everything else fell away and it was just the two of them, lost in one another once again. The sound of a throat clearing had them breaking apart; taking notice of the well dressed audience they had acquired.

"You two are so adorable. But seriously, don't make me get the hose." Jack quipped.

"They're not botherin' us." Gwen stated. She, Ianto, Owen and Tosh were all leaning over the railing, observing them with matching grins.

"Beats those trashy romance novels you read." laughed Tosh, tossing a glance back at the brunette who stuck out her tongue.

"And definitely better than most of the romantic movies I've seen." added Ianto

"Aww, you're such a softy." Jack chuckled putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling him down to place a kiss at his temple.

Owen looked at the trio and rolled his eyes, muttering something about working with a bunch of hopeless romantics under his breath as he walked over and plopped down in the chair in front of the monitor.

"Okay, I'm ready." Shenan called out as she stepped back out into the room. She had changed into a silky green blouse and a black skirt that came down to her knees as well as a pair of black flats, because of course you never knew when you'd have to run. Plus she had never been fond of heels anyway. Her long red hair had been pulled up into a braided bun and she was putting on a pair of her mom's hoop earrings. "Is that what you're wearing?" she asked Owen who was now immersed in some game on his phone.

He was wearing black dress pants with white sneakers and a black dress jacket over a white t-shirt that said 'The Doctor is In'.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked, glancing down at his attire. "I already promised that woman I'd wear a bloody suit for the wedding, she didn't say anything about the rehearsal dinner."

"Okay, your funeral." she told him, shaking her head. "And you two need to get changed." She looked at her parents pointedly. "Remember what Aunt Donna was like when you were late to the engagement party?"

"Don't remind me." The Doctor groaned. He had been thoroughly chastised by Donna for a full fifteen minutes, who pointed out that a Lord of Time with a time machine had no excuse for being late to anything ever.

"She's right, we better go." Rose began to tug The Doctor towards the TARDIS. "We'll stop off and pick up Martha and Mickey first and then we'll change and head to Donna's." She looked back at her husband. "And you are changin' your suit."

"But Rose, I love this suit." he whined looking down at his brown pinstriped armor.

She reached up placing a finger to his lips. "No arguments Mister. Now Allons-y!" She smiled tongue in teeth, smacking him on the arse and he grinned back wolfishly.

Shenan put a hand over her eyes and groaned. "Let's just go, yeah?"

The couple managed to get ahold of themselves long enough to step into the TARDIS with the rest of the group following behind them. Once they were all inside Shenan closed the door and made her way up the ramp to take a seat next to her brother, playfully slugging him in the arm and grinning before turning her attention to the group surrounding the console. She watched with a smile as her father began the dematerialization sequence one-handed while keeping his other arm firmly wrapped around her mother's waist as they laughed at one of Jack's old stories.

"Hey," J.P. said quietly. "I know it's been a long day and everything seems to be back to normal now but are you really okay sis?"

She glanced over, seeing the concern in her twin brother's eyes and smiled softly. "You know what, I really am." She said looking back at their parents who were joined at the lips again while Jack led the rest of the group in cheering them on. She shook her head and laughed. "Even though things seemed pretty bleak at the time, the universe got it right in the end. Because it's The Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS…"

"And their family." J.P. added.

"And their family." She agreed, laughing again and bumping his shoulder with her own. "Just as it should be."

 

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Final Note. The reason I wrote this in the first place was because I really hated the episode. I'm not going to bash anyone who liked it, because to each their own, but it's one of those I wouldn't watch again if I didn't have to. Yes, I am a Doctor/Rose shipper but even if I wasn't, the episode still would have left me with that WTF feeling after watching it. 
> 
> First of all, David, I adore you but The Doctor was a complete arse in this episode. 
> 
> I won't go into how gross I thought it was that he's making out with Reinette about 10 minutes after he had just met her as a child. (Really Moffat?) Then he acts pissy towards Mickey(um, hello. You invited him even after you saw Rose didn't want you to so if he's annoying you that's on you.) Then he basically treated Rose like some sort of nagging wife that wouldn't let him have any fun, making it okay for him to run off with the mistress. 
> 
> I'm sorry, but when you have the writers and actors say in continuity about how the Doctor and Rose are a love story and then have The Doctor's character; right after almost confirming it and telling Rose he would never leave her, turn around and fall for someone else and do just that, I call BS. (And don't get me started about Moffat's "type of girl The Doctor would pick" comment. Maybe Jack should have punched him instead) 
> 
> Maybe if this episode had been in say Matt Smith's era after he had lost Rose for good and had to move on then fine, but come on, the idea of him being okay with living the slow path with Reinette after he got stuck. Really? The man who can't seem to sit still for 5 minutes and freaks out about being separated from his TARDIS for even a day is fine living a couple of centuries without his beloved timeship. He's fine with spending 5 years in France, sharing a mistress with the King while he watches her waste away from Tuberculosis after talking about how horrible it is to watch people die. But that's okay because then he can find another version of himself to hitch a ride, even though he didn't even know the name of the ship they had been on or where it was located, but then again he can just go back to earth and pick it up right? Oh, wait that's right, you didn't even bother activating Emergency Program One to take Rose and Mickey home before you left did'ya? Noooooo. He was able to get back through dumb luck. Pure and simple. And the fact that he comes back after she died looking all pitiful with the letter. Really, you knew her damn history and you're telling me you had no idea that was a possibility after jumping through time windows all day in which years had passed on the opposite side? *coughs* BS. 
> 
> The only way I will look at this episode is based on the Doctor's actions before and after it. I will accept that he was infatuated because she was what he would consider a celebrity(like Dickens), who fancied him and that his reaction to her death was nothing more than his own constant self-condemnation and he was feeling guilty about her pining for him because he promised her a trip but didn't make it back in time. Because if the parallel world was Mickey's very next trip, then he sure moved past his heartbreak awfully quick for someone who had been so "in love" with Reinette. (So when I hear things like " he wasn't in love with Rose" Tell me again, how long did he pine for her after he lost her at Canary Wharf? I'm sure both Martha and Donna could answer that one.)
> 
> Whew, okay rant over. Sorry about that. I may have gotten a bit carried away. :) Thanks for reading and listening and reviewing.


End file.
